#peacock fly

[onenicebugperday]

Peacock fly, Callopistromyia annulipes, Ulidiidae (picture-winged flies)

Photographed in Virginia by Judy Gallagher

[celestialmacros]

Peacock Fly (Callopistromyia annulipes)

May 28, 2023

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[onenicebugperday]

@guitars-in-trees submitted: Strange bug found while in traffic in southeast MO :)

A fancy little pal! It's a peacock fly. Unlike peacock birds, though, both male and female peacock flies are fancy and love to show off their wings!

[onenicebugperday]

@itriedtoescape​ submitted: this is the weirdest fly ive ever seen. it kept holding up its wings at an odd angle but could also fold them down normally. is that a kind of defense mechanism? whatever it is it looks fancy and i support this bug. location is southern germany!

Ha! Great find. It’s a peacock fly, so it gets its name from the way it holds its wings up like a peacock would display its tail. I’m not actually sure why they do this wing posturing - it doesn’t seem to be defensive and both males and females do it, and not always in the presence of the opposite sex. I couldn’t find any papers about them either. So who knows! Maybe they just like looking pretty :)`

[rcannon992]

Will the Peacock fly come to the UK?

Will the Peacock fly come to the UK?

This lovely fly has recently invaded Europe. Will it fly across the Channel and establish itself in the UK? Is it already here? It is spreading widely on the Continent, so perhaps it is just a matter of time before it pops up in the UK? I could find no records of it, but it is certainly one to look out for and it has some interesting behaviour! Peacock Fly – Callopistromyia annulipes, Virginia,…

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[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Peacock Fly - Callopistromyia annulipes

This gravelly Peacock Fly is really strutting around, displaying its wings for all to see! To what end this display serves is still up for debates, especially since male and female Peacock Flies use this wing display (unlike their namesake animal). Is it a display to appear larger or mimic something? Or is this a mating display or something else? Perhaps these wings may serve multiple functions aside from flight, but more research will need to be done to conclusively prove this. With populations in North America and Europe to observe, we’re likely to find some answers soon enough. Their wing display is striking, and what’s more is that it becomes even more strange when the wings are folded backwards to rest. It becomes so commonplace to see this display, that folding the wings backwards just looks unnatural. Observe for these Flies carefully near old trees, particularly black locust trees (which the ones in our yard were drawn to). While they won’t harm the tree, them being drawn to a tree may be an indicator of the tree’s negative health. As the first video showcasing this specie suggested, our own tree was in trouble, though that was due to man-made circumstances. In the wild, it’s more likely for these insects to be attracted to a tree due to the presence of wood-boring insects.

With this video upload, all the video posts prior to 2021 that can be uploaded have successfully been added to this blog. There are still 2 videos that I’m working on, submitted from Asia and one large video whose size is simply too large for Tumblr. For the latter, I wish to upload it in full size, but it’ll have to be elsewhere. In the meantime, look forward to fresh video content going forward. Click HERE to dive into the video catalogue and observing some beautiful insects.

Video was recorded on June 29, 2019 with a Samsung Galaxy S4. You can find this video on YouTube now as of June 9, 2024 as a double-feature.

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Peacock Fly - Callopistromyia annulipes

Tucked inside the black locust tree in the backyard, there was a small swarm of these speckled-colored Flies to be found. It’s a fairly small hole in the tree, roughly an inch or so tall, so it speaks on the size of these Flies. Observe them closely. While there isn’t much behavior documented about them, we can see that most of them raise their wings the moment they exit the hole of the tree, and those that enter fold their wings downward. Why do they raise their wings upwards? Is it a display to other watchers? Or are they communication tools between Flies? Who knows! At first glance this behavior might be considered exclusive to male Flies (as a display of their suitability for mating), but these are mostly (if not solely) female Flies as they have ovipositors. There are two explanations I can think of:

There was a food source in the tree such as insect waste or a decaying section of tree that drew them in for a snack

The decaying tree is a suitable source for laying eggs. This explanation is interesting given how the Flies don’t seem to be driving each other away or in-fighting

Perhaps while some of these Picture-Wing Flies feed, others are serving as lookouts? If these species return to the backyard, they’ll be observed further and hopefully with little disturbance as possible.

Video was recorded on June 14, 2019 with a Samsung Galaxy S4. You can find this video on YouTube now as of June 9, 2024 as a double-feature.

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Peacock Fly - Callopistromyia annulipes

Here’s one last minute addition to the blog before calling it for this Friday! For the last while I’ve seen 2 distinct species of Picture-Wing Flies in the backyard, but it’s only this year that the Peacock Fly has thrown its wings in the ring for a spot in the backyard. This Fly was named for the way in which it displays its wings. While they leave them to the side when at rest, they hold them up to attract mates, and from my own observations, they may also hold them up while attempting to defend their territory. I’ll need to watch future generations to confirm this. For all I know, they may just be signaling to neighboring Flies that this is their tree and they must defend it together. 

While gravel-colored, and much more drab than the average Fly, at least the drab colors help the Fly blend into the bark of trees. It’s still beautiful when viewed up close, wings on display. While macro-photography isn’t possible my current phone, take note of the wing patterns. Several individuals have gathered on the wooden steps earlier in search of a mate presumably. The steps are nearby to a black locust tree whose bark is beginning to peel and sap starting to leak. Picture-Wing Flies tend to feed on decaying matter, and a rotting tree is a prime target. As well, other insects will come to a tree like this, and these Flies can clean up their waste too! The beginning of a rot is the perfect place to live as a group and lay eggs and I’ll be exploring that in a future post, whereby several individuals holed themselves in a gap in the tree. What fascinating little Flies!

Pictures were taken on June 6 and June 14, 2019 with a Samsung Galaxy S4